When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)

The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.

The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.

Chess was invented in India.

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.

The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.

The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.

India is the largest democracy in the world, the 7th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.

The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat'. The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. In time, the game underwent several modifications, but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.

The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.

The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.

The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.

Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.

The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India.Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).

Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world
(Source: Gemological Institute of America).

The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.

Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism,physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

India exports software to 90 countries.

The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.

Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively.

Islam is India's and the world's second largest religion.

There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world.

The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.

Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively

The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.

The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world's largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday.

Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577.
Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

India provides safety for more than 300,000 refugees originally from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who escaped to flee religious and political persecution.

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, runs his government in exile from Dharmashala in northern India.

Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.

The diversity of India is tremendous; it is obvious; it lies onthe surface and anybody can see it. It concerns itself with phy-sical appearances as well as with certain mental habits and traits.There is little in common, to outward seeming, between the Pathan of the North-West and the Tamil in the far South. Their racial stocks are not the same, though there may be common strands running through them; they differ in face and figure,food and clothing, and, of course, language. In the North-western Frontier Province there is already the breath of Central Asia, and many a custom there, as in Kashmir, reminds one of the countries on the other side of the Himalayas. Pathan popu-lar dances are singularly like Russian Cossack dancing. Yet,with all these differences, there is no mistaking the impress of India on the Pathan, as this is obvious on the Tamil. This isnot surprising, for these border lands, and indeed Afghanistanalso, were united with India for thousands of years. The oldTurkish and other races who inhabited Afghanistan and partsof Central Asia before the advent of Islam were largely Bud-dhists, and earlier still, during the period of the Epics,Hindus. The frontier area was one of the principal centres of old Indian culture and it abounds still with ruins of monu-ments and monasteries and, especially, of the great universityof Taxila, which was at the height of its fame two thousandyears ago, attracting students from all over India as well asdifferent parts of Asia. Changes of religion made a difference, but could not change entirely the mental backgrounds whichthe people of those areas had developed.The Pathan and the Tamil are two extreme examples; theothers lie somewhere in between. All of them have their dis-tinctive features, all of them have still more the distinguishingmark of India. It is fascinating to find how the Bengalis, theMarathas, the Gujratis, the Tamils, the Andhras, the Oriyas,the Assamese, the Canarese, the Malayalis, the Sindhis, thePunjabis, the Pathans, the Kashmiris, the Rajputs, and the greatcentral block comprising the Hindustani-speaking people, haveretained their peculiar characteristics for hundreds of years,have still more or less the same virtues and failings of whichold tradition or record tells us, and yet have been throughoutthese ages distinctively Indian, with the same national heritageand the same set of moral and mental qualities. There wassomething living and dynamic about this heritage which showed. itself in ways of living and a philosophical attitude to life andits problems. Ancient India, like ancient China, was a world initself, a culture and a civilization which gave shape to all things.Foreign influences poured in and often influenced that cultureand were absorbed. Disruptive tendencies gave rise immediatelyto an attempt to find a synthesis. Some kind of a dream of unityhas occupied the mind of India since the dawn of civilization.That unity was not conceived as something imposed from out-side, a standardization of externals or even of beliefs. It was something deeper and, within its fold, the widest tolerance of belief and custom was practised and every variety acknowledgedand even encouraged.Differences, big or small, can always be noticed even withina national group, however closely bound together it may be.The essential unity of that group becomes apparent when it iscompared to another national group, though often the differ-ences between two adjoining groups fade out or interminglenear the frontiers, and modern developments are tending to produce a certain uniformity every where. In ancient and medi-aeval times, the idea of the modern nation was non-existent, and feudal, religious, racial, or cultural bonds had more importance. Yet I think that at almost any time in recorded history an Indian would have felt more or less at home in any part of India, andwould have felt as a stranger and alien in any other country. He would certainly have felt less of a stranger in countries which had partly adopted his culture or religion. Those who professed areligion of non-Indian origin or, coming to India, settled downthere, became distinctively Indian in the course of a few genera-tions, such as Christians, Jews, Parsees, Moslems. Indian converts to some of these religions never ceased to be Indians on account of a change of their faith. They were looked upon in other countriesas Indians and foreigners, even though there might have been acommunity of faith between them.To-day, when the conccption of nationalism has developedmuch more, Indians in foreign countries inevitably form a nationalgroup and hang together for various purposes, in spite of their internal differences. An Indian Christian is looked upon as an Indian wherever he may go. An Indian Moslem is considered an Indian in Turkey or Arabia or Iran, or any other country where Islam is the dominant religion-All of us, I suppose, have varying pictures of our native landand no two persons will think exactly alike. When I think of India, I think of many things: of broad fields dotted with in-numerable small villages; of towns and cities I have visited; of the magic of the rainy season which pours life into the dry parched-up land and converts it suddenly into a glistening expanse of beauty and greenery, of great rivers and flowing water; of the Khyber Pass in all its bleak surroundings; of the southern tip of India; of people, individually and in the mass; and, above all,of the Himalayas, snow-capped, or some mountain valley in Kashmir in the spring, covered with new flowers, and with a brook bubbling and gurgling through it. We make and preserve the pictures of our choice, and so I have chosen this mountain background rather than the more normal picture of a hot, sub-tropical country. Both pictures would be correct, for India stret-ches from the tropics right up to the temperate regions, fromnear the equator to the cold heart of Asia.

here, I have clearly said many times that 'success of India' is hidden in success of China itself. our natural economic order of the world for last over 20 centuries is as below. Indian GDP was on top till the 16th century and again came on the top by 18th century with sharing the top two spot with China till 18th century (check the table). but then the Western War Champions organized different wars and both of these two came down together in 19th and 20th century. and again we find both of these two going up together. and I would like to clearly state that China will always share the top two ranks with India, or both of these will come down together to serve intentions of Western War Champions. and, dont worry for the rank 1 position, first it would go to China and then I hope India would get the first economic rank, the highest GDP size, by 2050. we would just keep China leading mid this first half century with a hope that it would clear all the Western hurdles for India till 2050 :china:

=> Further to the above topic, the time British came to India in 18th century, Indian economy was around 9 times bigger than British that time, bigger than even the Total Western European economy as below. they had many Indian traitors, many tactics they used and then they got 'everything' in India, its wealth and also an Indian Army which won rest of the war for them. we do know that Indian Army was back boon of British's efforts in WW1, WW2. and from here, you would just assume a man of street who suddenly became Mayer of that same city, will their coming generation forget that pride they had in past? . India will always have to have 'pig talks' with those British who always have a reason to engage India someway, somehow

even if we have a close look on the data's then we find that even by 1820, GDP of India was around $111,417mil, as compare to total GDP of Western Europe at $159,851mil as below. it may also because of the fact that Marathas lost heavy wealth during the 15 years of war with British till 1818

(this GDP estimate is based on the prices at 1820. here the "Total Western Europe" include the current 17 Eurozone nations, +Britain+Norway+Swedan etc)

Marath Empire

The Maratha Empire (Marathi: मराठा साम्राज्य Marāṭhā Sāmrājya; also transliterated Mahratta) or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of what would become India, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million kmÂ².[2] the Marathas are credited for ending the Mughal rule in India.[2]

Marathas remained the preeminent power in India until their defeat in the Second and Third Anglo-Maratha Wars (1805–1818), which left Britain in control of most of India.

here, I have clearly said many times that 'success of India' is hidden in success of China itself. our natural economic order of the world for last over 20 centuries is as below. Indian GDP was on top till the 16th century and again came on the top by 18th century with sharing the top two spot with China till 18th century (check the table). but then the Western War Champions organized different wars and both of these two came down together in 19th and 20th century. and again we find both of these two going up together. and I would like to clearly state that China will always share the top two ranks with India, or both of these will come down together to serve intentions of Western War Champions. and, dont worry for the rank 1 position, first it would go to China and then I hope India would get the first economic rank, the highest GDP size, by 2050. we would just keep China leading mid this first half century with a hope that it would clear all the Western hurdles for India till 2050 :china:

=> Further to the above topic, the time British came to India in 18th century, Indian economy was around 9 times bigger than British that time, bigger than even the Total Western European economy as below. they had many Indian traitors, many tactics they used and then they got 'everything' in India, its wealth and also an Indian Army which won rest of the war for them. we do know that Indian Army was back boon of British's efforts in WW1, WW2. and from here, you would just assume a man of street who suddenly became Mayer of that same city, will their coming generation forget that pride they had in past? . India will always have to have 'pig talks' with those British who always have a reason to engage India someway, somehow

even if we have a close look on the data's then we find that even by 1820, GDP of India was around $111,417mil, as compare to total GDP of Western Europe at $159,851mil as below. it may also because of the fact that Marathas lost heavy wealth during the 15 years of war with British till 1818

(this GDP estimate is based on the prices at 1820. here the "Total Western Europe" include the current 17 Eurozone nations, +Britain+Norway+Swedan etc)

Marath Empire

The Maratha Empire (Marathi: मराठा साम्राज्य Marāṭhā Sāmrājya; also transliterated Mahratta) or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of what would become India, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million kmÂ².[2] the Marathas are credited for ending the Mughal rule in India.[2]

Marathas remained the preeminent power in India until their defeat in the Second and Third Anglo-Maratha Wars (1805â€“1818), which left Britain in control of most of India.

as above, after looting India, smuggling of heroine to China was the very first business of British in India.....:uk: :china:

the reason why Mr Gandhi never liked these people, as below:

The boycott of British goods by Mahatma Gandhi known as the swadeshi policy—the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods.

In addition to boycotting British products, Gandhi urged the people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, to resign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and honours

and as stated in this video itself, the main points of freedom struggle of Mr Gandhi, as stated on this government website of India, as below

Influenced by the Bhagvad Gita and Hindu beliefs, the Jain religion and the Christian teachings of Leo Tolstoy, Gandhi moved on the path of Satya and Ahimsa. ‘Satya’ meaning ‘truth’ and ‘ahimsa’ meaning ‘non-violence’ were the two weapons that Gandhi used to fight the enemy.

Gandhi inspired people to boycott British goods and refuse earthy possessions. This movement was known as Swaraj and was economically significant because Indian home industries were virtually destructed by British industrialists. He advocated renewal of native Indian industries and began to use a spinning wheel as a token of return to simple village life. Thereafter, he constantly began promoting satyagraha, non-violence, non-cooperation and swaraj to achieve independence. Finally, in August 1947, the British were forcedto leave India.

it were the main 15 years, 1813 to 1828, of the top of SATI only, when we found around 1.3 murders per 1 million population of India every year. which was for 'only' 15 years of its peak, when British then controlled that "non-Hindu Regime" of Bengal....... and also, as most of those SATI were in fact because of "self willingness", it is more correct to call those murders, the 'suicide' cases of 1.3 per million during peak of those 15 years...

(for 450million population of India by 1818, and on average around 550 murders due to SATI during its peak of 1818 to 1828, mainly in Bengal....)

hence here, for example if we compare 1.3 murder per million due to SATI in between 1813 to 1828, with the financial center of Pakistan, Karachi, where we find around 6-7 'Target Killing's on average every day, means around 1000 murders per 8 million population of Financial Center of Pakistan, then it comes around 125 murders per million in today's modern time in Karachi. means around 100 times more murders than peak of SATI, due to the 'Target Killing' culture of Karachi. the SATI, which was allowed under the 'non-Maratha' regime of India, the Maratha, who controlled around 85% of India till 1819, excluding Bengal till then

A local indication of the numbers is given in the records kept by the Bengal Presidency of the British East India Company. The total figure of known occurrences for the period 1813 to 1828 is 8,135; another source gives a comparable number of 7,941 from 1815 to 1828, thus giving an average of about 507 to '567' documented incidents per year in that period. Raja Ram Mohan Roy estimated that there were ten times as many cases of Sati in Bengal compared to the rest of the country.[41][42] Bentinck, in his 1829 report, states that 420 occurrences took place in one (unspecified) year in the 'Lower Provinces' of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and 44 in the 'Upper Provinces' (the upper Gangetic plain).

here, SATI was limited to Bengal area only, no where else, and for a certain time period only and only for those of Bengal who believe in it. even in Bengal, it was seen in "Upper Cast Hindus" only, who account for hardly 10% of Hindu population. it was supported by those rulers of Bengal who were themselves not hindus while even if hindu Marathas controlled over 80% India during that time, there was no case found in their region.

=> it is because SATI isn't part of Hinduism, even the top most lords of Hindu, Ram and Sri Krishna, were against cast system. all these SATI or Cast was made by powerful people only, to feed their human mentalities to remain on top on the basis of race, which was 'social' practice not religious . (like how White Christians usually discriminated with Christian Blacks till mid 20th century.) Marathas never allowed SATI except few cases which were not known, like how the numbers were very less, almost none, in Maratha's state of India who controlled 80% Indian areas that time........

Linear Relation between India Economy with British Economy during 19th and 20th centuries

till 1947, Britian, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc were part of one country, the Britain. and if we see this graph, economy size of the state Britain increased on the expanse of the states of India. the larger size of state of British economy since 1820 to 1950, and it had almost a similar decline of economy size of states of India.

(mainly in between 1820 to 1900, almost a similar/linear growth of economic size of Britain as decline of economic size of India. and after 1900, Britain wasted Indian wealth/talent in WW1 and WW2 so even in Indian economy continue to decline in between 1990 to 1947 also to pay for the war expanses of UK during that period. hence the British economic size was almost same in between 1900 to 1947, have a close look on this graph..............)

and its very simple right now also. for example, if all the talents of Indian Subcontinent start developing techs for British industries only and then Britain starts selling those products at high price in India itself, then simply you will only do agriculture to pay for high price for luxury life of British . like, how share of agriculture in Indian economy was around 65% at the time of freedom

but it would first be required to rob India completely, looting every gold/diamond and other luxury stuffs, enslaving all those who may do any business, to make them working for the state of Britain only. and then, conduct different competitive exams held in UK to hire the best Indian talents to have high techs, like how British made a system during British Raj in India

(1819 was the year when British could finally win over Maratha Empire after over 15 years of war so it is said to be the time when British Rule started in India since then.)

and this was the state of these pigs till the 17th century, before they came to India, as below:

Poverty in the Middle Ages

However in the Middle Ages poverty was common. England was basically a subsistence economy where each village made most of the things it needed and most of the population were subsistence farmers. They grew as much food as their families needed (if they were lucky).

Surprisingly, perhaps, examining Medieval skeletons shows that most people had an adequate diet, except in times of famine.

However life must have been very hard for the disabled. There were many disabled beggars in Medieval towns.

The Church tried to help the poor. The Church taught that it was a Christian duty to give to the poor. In monasteries a monk called an almoner gave alms to the poor. However in the Middle Ages fearful poverty was an inescapable part of life.

Things did improve after the Black Death of 1348-49. In England about one third of the population died. Afterwards there was a shortage of workers so wages rose. In the 15th century wage labourers were better off then in the 13th century.

India was a major player in the world export market for textiles in the early 18th century, but by the middle of the 19th century it had lost all of its export market and much of its domestic market. Other local industries also suffered some decline, and India underwent secular de-industrialization as a consequence. While India produced about 25 percent of world industrial output in 1750, this figure fell to only 2 percent by 1900. We use an open, specific-factor model to organize our thinking about the relative role played by domestic and foreign forces in Indiaâ€™s de-industrialization. The construction of new relative price evidence is central to our analysis. We document trends in the ratio of export to import prices (the external terms of trade) from 1800 to 1913, and that of tradable to non-tradable goods and own-wages in the tradable sectors going back to 1765. With this new relative price evidence in hand, we ask how much of the de-industrialization was due to local supply-side influences (such as the demise of the Mughal empire) and how much to world price shocks (such as world market integration and rapid productivity advance in European manufacturing), both of which had to deal with an offset n the huge net transfer from India to Britain before 1815. Whether the Indian de-industrialization shocks and responses were big or small is then assessed by comparisons with other parts of the periphery.

India was a major player in the world export market for textiles in the early 18th century, but by the middle of the 19th century it had lost all of its export market and much of its domestic market. Other local industries also suffered some decline, and India underwent secular de-industrialization as a consequence. While India produced about 25 percent of world industrial output in 1750, this figure fell to only 2 percent by 1900.We use an open, specific-factor model to organize our thinking about the relative role played by domestic and foreign forces in India's de-industrialization. The construction of new relative price evidence is central to our analysis. We document trends in the ratio of export to import prices (the external terms of trade) from 1800 to 1913, and that of tradable to non-tradable goods and own-wages in the tradable sectors going back to 1765. With this new relative price evidence in hand, we ask how much of the de-industrialization was due to local supply-side influences (such as the demise of the Mughal empire) and how much to world price shocks (such as world market integration and rapid productivity advance in European manufacturing), both of which had to deal with an offset the huge net transfer from India to Britain before 1815. Whether the Indian de-industrialization shocks and responses were big or small is then assessed by comparisons with other parts of the periphery.

Seriously, have you considered getting psychiatric help for your condition, I'm sure you could lead some sort of productive life if only you could get over this worm that is eating you up. Best of luck.

Seriously, have you considered getting psychiatric help for your condition, I'm sure you could lead some sort of productive life if only you could get over this worm that is eating you up. Best of luck.

This website does contain a lot of great information on the history of Indian civilization

Only problem is this English language page isn't really put together very well.
I would expect for a government website it would be much more formal and the details well sourced and all.

Click to expand...

govt. cares abt caste politics n caste reservation to get votes.... UPA knows dat de have failed n deres no way dat dere corrupt mind can improve infrastructure....caste reservation is the best n easy way to get votes.....so my point is de dont care abt its history n shiiit

.
further to the topic of this thread, we have two graphs as below, and here its clear that now US/UK needs to win wars, win over a very big economy, like how Britain won over India in 1818 and then improved their economy since then, came out of extreme poverty since then by winning over India

check, how UK's debt was reduced from 250% to its GDP in 1818, (the year they won over Marathas who controlled 80% India till then), to a very low level debt by early 19th century, along with contraction in Indian Economy during that period